Last month, our customers fell in love with a single-family house with a super beautiful appearance, and the interior was fully renovated and were ready to place an order. However, when we finally read the house inspection report, we found that the house actually had foundation problems and there was a potential risk of sinking!
After searching for a professional house structure engineer for on-site inspection, we found that the root cause of the risk of sinking is that the land where the house is located is relatively soft.
, and the engineer gave a professional prediction: even if is repaired, it will treat the symptoms but not the root cause, in the long run, the problem of sinking may still occur again.
The foundation is unstable, and it is not only troublesome to repair it, but also costs tens of thousands of yuan. We immediately advised customers to give up and withdraw from this house.
This time, we may be lucky. We met a reliable teammate and helped us stop the loss in time. But considering that you often encounter old antiques older than us when buying a house in the United States, so it is really important to do a house inspection! !
Some agents think they are very experienced and know how to look at the house and know where the house is, so they no longer need special house inspections. But after all, many problems are hidden deep in the depths. cannot be seen from the surface of the house. Professionals must be asked to check carefully before they can be discovered!
For the Bay Area, most sellers will provide house inspection reports, and in rare cases, you need to make an appointment for house inspection by yourself. Then studying the house inspection report is the top priority.
However, housing reports generally have dozens of pages, full of difficult professional vocabulary. Therefore, it is recommended to find a professional team or a knowledgeable friend to help you read the report first and select the key information you need to pay attention to, which will make it easier.
However, for a very competitive seller market in the Bay Area, many people feel that there is not enough time to do house inspections before taking the offer. Because the reliable house inspection team has already completed the appointment and needs to wait for a long time. So I didn’t have time to inspect the house or couldn’t find a buyer with a reliable house inspection team, so I had to bite the bullet and offer it under the pretext.
This is a major misunderstanding!
Really professional agents will have their own cooperative housing inspection team, which can help buyers conduct house inspections before they get an offer, and they don’t need to wait for a long time. No matter how fierce the competition is, it is still possible to do a house inspection in advance before submitting the offer. Don’t settle it!
. In addition to avoiding serious structural problems of the house, you can also use the house inspection results as bargaining chips to bargain with the seller, and you can also ask the seller to perform repairs.
’s attitude towards house inspection should also be: it’s not that we cannot tolerate any problem, because after all, every house has more or less problems, but! There must be no major structural problems!
House inspection not only helps us determine whether this is a healthy house, but also shows the seller our sincerity for this house. So don't be polite, you must do it!
So how to judge whether there is any problem with the foundation of the house?
The most direct way is to observe whether there are cracks in the wall or foundation wall of the house .
In fact, it is not scary to find cracks in house inspection. After all, crust movement and temperature changes will cause tiny cracks in the cement piers on the foundation or walls.
What we need to pay attention to is the type and size of these cracks.
cracks are mainly divided into three types: horizontal cracks, oblique cracks, and longitudinal cracks.
Longitudinal cracks are more common. is usually vertical, or deviates from the vertical direction no more than 30 degrees. is generally caused by foundation settlement.
You can imagine that the foundation wall cracks into several complete cement piers, but because the vertical direction is still complete, the load-bearing capacity of each cement pier is not affected.
And Seattle and California are in the earthquake zone, and the crust is relatively lively. Even a new house that has just been built for a few years may have some small cracks in the foundation.
These cracks are relatively easy to repair. Just fill the cracks, and the cost is not high.
oblique crack is generally a crack of 30 degrees-75 degrees. This kind of crack in is generally caused by different heights of the foundation.
If the house is built on a hillside, it is easy to have oblique cracks due to different heights and stresses; or cracks are caused by soil expansion and expansion. The cracks like
may be as thin as hair, or they may be wider, and the severity varies depending on the situation.
In some cases, it may be enough to install a better rain-covering eaves, because too much rainwater in a certain part of the soil will cause uneven foundation height.
But sometimes after filling in cracks, the problem of different stress caused by different foundation heights is also necessary, so the cost will be increased.
horizontal cracks are very serious.
is usually changed by soil pressure or hydrostatic pressure, which will cause the foundation wall to shift and the steel bars in the concrete will also be greatly deformed. is very difficult to repair cracks like this and the cost is very high. It is best not to buy a house with such cracks.
In addition, If the stairs of this house are very inclined, may cause uneven foundations on all sides due to large cracks in the foundation.
In addition, doors and windows cannot be closed, or cracks appear in the tiles at home, are some red flags that need to be paid attention to, and you need to carefully study the foundation part of the house inspection report.
How much does it cost to repair the foundation? The biggest enemy of the foundation of
is moisture!
Some old houses over 100 years old (houses around 1910 and 1920) have accumulated water for many years and are already very wet. House prosecutors can tear off the cement blocks in the soaked foundation with bare hands.
If it is just repairing the cracks on the foundation, it may be solved for a few thousand yuan, but the cost of foundation replacement is very high, and the operation is more troublesome.
A small house costs about 30,000 to 40,000 US dollars for a simple foundation repair, while for a large house on the mountain, the cost of foundation replacement/repair can be as high as 200,000 US dollars!
In addition to cracks, what other issues need to be paid attention to under the foundation?
Remove the foundation, the foundation wall, and the hollow space of crawlspace is also a detail that must be paid attention to when inspecting the house.
If crawlspace finds a lot of wood debris, or sees that the wood is almost broken, there are likely to be termites (drywood termites) that survive in the wood.
Underground termites are relatively less harmful. The cost of eliminating local underground termites is about a few hundred dollars.
However, if the infection is serious, the whole house needs to be treated, the size of the house needs to be referenced, and the cost is expected to vary by several thousand dollars.
If there are many white crystals found in crawlspace, needs to distinguish whether it is a crystalline salt (ellforescence) or a mold (mold).
is not difficult to remove mold. Depending on the severity of the mold, the cost can range from US$500-4,000.
If it is crystal salt, it means that the crawlspace is too humid. You need to do a drainage system detection to determine whether the crawlspace has serious damage caused by drainage and whether the drainage system needs to be repaired.
Of course, wet insulation measures can also be taken for crawlspace. However, this crystal will still appear from time to time, so cleaning the crystalline salt on the surface is more of a regular maintenance, and is not a "anti-drug" once and for all.
After you understand the overall situation of the house, you should make a detailed judgment based on the specific situation.
After all, second-hand housing transactions are still mainstream in the US housing market. Before confirming an offer, you must do your homework for the above issues.
